SANTA FE – Democrat Roxanne “Rocky” Lara of Carlsbad is running for Congress in the southern New Mexico district.

Lara, 38, has been considering a run for Congress since late April. She began focusing on the race after Sam Bregman defeated her for the chairmanship of New Mexico’s Democratic Party.

“New Mexicans deserve someone in Congress who is committed to our needs and values, but we haven’t been getting that from Washington lately,” Lara said in a statement.

“I’ll change that by following a straightforward principle: I will work with anyone who shares a willingness to work for a better New Mexico.” Southern New Mexico, the 2nd District, now is represented in Congress by Republican Steve Pearce of Hobbs.

Lara is an attorney and a former Eddy County commissioner. She did not seek re-election to that office so she could run for party chairwoman. One of her planks was to strengthen the Democratic Party in southeastern New Mexico, where Pearce is strong.

Another Democrat already is in the congressional race. She is Leslie Endean-Singh, an attorney and medical office manager from Alamogordo.

Pearce, 66, easily won re-election last year, taking 59 percent of the vote against Democrat Evelyn Madrid Erhard.

Milan Simonich, Santa Fe Bureau chief of Texas-New Mexico Newspapers, can be reached at 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com.

via Carlsbad, NM, Democrat Roxanne Lara enters race for Congress – El Paso Times.